President calls for Kashmir demilitarization
Urges US not to open new fronts against Iran, Syria
DM Monitoring

RAWALPINDI—Observing that the massive temblor that hit both sides of the LoC has offered an “opportunity” for moving forward on resolving the Kashmir issue, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said he favoured the idea of demilitarisation for ultimately settling the vexed problem.
“I am for demilitarisation. If they agree to that, we will too. We are very flexible. We are absolutely open to moving forward to the ultimate solution. You can’t clap with one hand; you can only clap with two,” he told Arab News when asked did he think it was high time for people of both sides to do something for peace in the wake of the natural calamity.
“There must be political movement. There must be discussions between India and Pakistan, involving Kashmiris that will lead to results. I am for these results. This is an opportunity. You are very right that we are spending too much money on the military, he said.
When asked about charges in some sections of the Indian media that Pakistan haggled on the issue of opening the LoC, he said “It is unfortunate that anybody has said that Pakistan has haggled on the issue of opening of points on the LoC. Pakistan has been haggling on only one issue: Indian military personnel coming across the LoC. On no other issue has Pakistan haggled”.
Asking Syria and Iran to adopt a reconciliatory approach rather than a confrontational one in dealing with the United States said, “Anything that serves to increase confrontation should be avoided. We must concentrate on things which assist reconciliation instead of things which lead to confrontation”.
Asked what Pakistan’s role would be if the US opened a new front against Syria and Iran, Musharraf said there were already too many fronts and they all needed to be closed.
Musharraf expressed his gratitude for the Kingdom’s generous aid to the quake-affected people in Pakistan. “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and the royal family have shown great generosity and set an example for others to follow,” Musharraf said. He also lauded the Saudi people for donating financial and material aid in support of the victims.
The President said it was unfortunate that in some quarters, especially in the Arab world, there was a misunderstanding about the recent contacts between Pakistan and Israel.
“Pakistan’s stance concerning the Palestinian cause remains unchanged; there has been no change whatsoever,” the president said.
President General Pervez Musharraf saw an opportunity for positive development on Kashmir in the wake of recent earthquake and called for political momentum to achieve result-oriented progress on the decades-old dispute in an interview.
“There must be political movement. There must be discussions between India and Pakistan, involving Kashmiris, that will lead to results. I am for those results. You are absolutely right. This is an opportunity”, he said in the Arab News interview, recorded on the eve of Pakistan-India agreement to open the Line of Control at five points.
The agreement, reached between the two countries late Saturday evening, will allow Kashmiris’ participation in relief and reconstruction on both sides of LoC following October 8’s deadly quake.
Pakistan, the President told the paper, has set up relief centres at five points on the Line of Control in Azad Kashmir and would allow people from Indian occupied Kashmir coming to Azad Kashmir to bring relief goods.
He added that people of Azad Kashmir would also be allowed to take part in relief and reconstruction on the other side of the LoC.
Commenting on New Delhi’s response to the quake disaster Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the President said Pakistan would welcome all kinds of relief supplies from India but cannot allow the Indian military personnel coming across the Line of Control.
President Musharraf agreed with the interviewer that the two South Asian countries have been spending a lot of money on the military and favoured demilitarization on reciprocal basis.
“I am for demilitarization (in Kashmir). If they agree to that, we will too. We are very flexible. We are absolutely open to moving forward to the ultimate solution (of Kashmir dispute). You cannot clap with one hand; you can only clap with two”.
In the interview, the President also replied to questions about Pakisan’s efforts to defuse the situation between the United States and neighbouring Iran.
He underscored that the world cannot afford to open new fronts and that everyone should work to close fronts.
The Pakistani leader also said that Islamabad would like Iran and Syria to adopt a reconciliatory approach instead of a confrontational one.
“We have played our role. In my capacity, I have told everyone that we cannot afford confrontation with Iran. We cannot open new fronts. I have always said that we need to close fronts. This is our stand and we are playing our role in this”, he replied when asked whether Pakistan would use its influence in reducing tension between the US and the Middle Eastern states of Iran and Syria. Continuing, President Musharraf said he is personally playing a role in this regard.
“The Iranian vice president was here with me (on Saturday). When I go to the US and meet the leadership, I clearly say that we have to close fronts”.
“We cannot afford so many fronts. We have a front in Iraq, a front in Afghanistan, a front in Palestine and a front in Kashmir. Let us close all these fronts because they are affecting the Muslim world”.
He felt that that everyone should adopt a reconciliatory approach rather than a confrontational one.
“Let’s put an end to terrorism, extremism and militancy. That is the reconciliatory approach that I am talking of”, said the President, whose OIC-adopted concept of enlightened moderation calls on the West to resolve political disputes affecting the Muslims with justice and urges the Muslim states to reject extremism in favour of their socio-economic development.
Responding to a question vis-a-vis Pakistan’s recent contacs with Israel, the President categorically stated that Pakistan’s stance on the Palestinian cause remains unchanged.
“There has been no change whatsoever.We are for the establishment of a Palestinian state and Pakistan offers its complete support for the creation of a Palestinian state and a homeland for Palestinians”, he declared.
Pakistan has made it clear to Israel that they would have to create a Palestinian state for the cause of world peace and peace for themselves, he said referring to his address to the American Jewish Congress last month.